with request for inclusion in the agenda for the debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 115 of the Rules of Procedure
by Jean Lambert
on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group
on Bangladesh

NB: This motion for a resolution is available in the original language only.

European Parliament resolution on Bangladesh

B6‑0346/2007

The European Parliament,

–
having regard to its previous resolutions on Bangladesh,

–
having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.
whereas Bangladesh’s present interim government led by Fakhruddin Ahmed, which came to power on 12 January 2007 under the special Emergency Regulations adopted in January 2007, has suspended a wide range of civil rights previously enjoyed by Bangladesh’s population, including the right to organise public protests and to hold political meetings,

B.
whereas the Government has been intimidating and at times violently repressing voices critical of its undemocratic policies, including newspaper editors and journalists, resulting in an estimated two hundred thousand arrests and detentions,

C.
whereas, during the massive protests of students and teachers all over the country in August, prominent teachers of Dhaka and Rajshahi university were arrested and charged with engaging in ‘anti-state’ activities and the arrested teachers have reportedly been tortured while in the custody of the joint forces, whereas thousands of students have been severely beaten and hunted by members of Bangladesh’s joint forces, whereas court cases have been introduced in Dhaka alone against a reported 42,000 people who took part in the anti-government protests,

D.
whereas the Government has in the meantime withdrawn the curfew which it had imposed in six major cities but emergency rule continues,

E.
whereas the formation of the new interim government in January 2007 was accompanied by the re-entrance of the Bangladeshi military into the arena of Bangladeshi policies after long years of civilianrule as President Ahmed’s cabinet of advisors, members in the Anti-Corruption and the Election Commission,

F.
whereas, since January 2007, the Government has jailed a selected number of politicians and has engaged legal action in a limited number of high profile corruption cases involving more than 170 senior politicians, including the two former Prime ministers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Trafficking, Sigma Huda, and more than a dozen former ministers mostly belonging to the two major parties BNP and Awami League, several of them having already been convicted and sentenced to various prison terms,

G.
whereas, while the Government's anti-corruption policy was initially welcomed by major sections of society, it becomes more and more controversial by its selectivity,

H.
whereas Bangladesh’s High Court has called on the Government to refrain from using illegitimate means in its campaign against corruption,

I.
whereas there are concerns about the state of health of Sigma Huda, the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, who was sentenced on 27 August 2007 to three years' imprisonment on corruption charges,

J.
whereas according to reports from NGOs, slum dwellers, landless peasants and other underprivileged have been ‘hit on a truly massive scale’ as a consequence of the eviction drive initiated by the interim government in February 2007,

K.
whereas, while some of the expulsions were justifiable in view of the fact that politicians and business people during the former rule of the BNP-led coalition government had grabbed land illegally, numerous landless peasants and slum dwellers, whose rights to fallow land had in the past been enshrined in the country’s laws, were driven from their land,.

L.
whereas, according to a High Court ruling, no evictions of slum dwellers should be implemented without previous formulation of a clear cut rehabilitation policy by the government,

M.
whereas Bangladesh’s constitutional provisions prescribe that an interim government’s agenda be limited to preparing elections and that preparations be completed within a maximum of three months, while the present government has officially postponed the elections that were to be held in January 2007 until the end of 2008,

1.
Expresses its concern over the recent unrests in Bangladesh and calls on the Government of Bangladesh to secure the immediate release of the university teachers who were arrested subsequent to the students’ and teachers’ protests, including the general secretary of the Dhaka University Shikkhok Samity, Anwar Hossain, the dean of the Social Science Faculty of Dhaka University, Harun Ur Rashid, the former vice-chancellor of Rajshahi university, Saidur Rahman Khan, and the convenor of the Progressive Teachers’ Society of Rajshahi University Professor Abdus Sobhan and to stop prosecution against persons who made use of their right to the freedom of expression in protest against the deteriorating living conditions induced among others by repeated government increases of basic utility and commodity prices;

2.
Takes note that the Government formed a high-powered judicial committee with a retired high court judge who has started his investigations and is to submit a report on the clashes in the next 15 days;

3.
Calls on the Government of Bangladesh to end the emergency rule imposed in January 2007, to restore all civilian rights and to urgently return to a fully civilian government system, within the democratic framework of the Constitution;

4.
Calls on the Government to base its anti-corruption campaign solely on facts relevant in the context of criminal proceedings for corruption and to refrain from politically motivated prosecution;

5.
Draws attention to the statement of Leandro Despouy, the UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, expressing concern as to the fairness and transparency of the trial of UN Special Rapporteur Sigma Huda and calls on the Bangladeshi authorities to ensure that Sigma Huda receives all the medical care she needs;

6.
Expresses its concern over practices such as the case of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, where charges of alleged bribery have been converted into extortion to ensure that the crime which was allegedly committed in 2001 can be judged retroactively under the Emergency Power Rules of 2007;

7.
Calls on the Bangladeshi Government to refrain from any arbitrary expulsions of slum dwellers and of landless peasants from urban roadsides and fallow lands, in line with the High Court’s ruling and to undertake necessary evictions only on the basis of a well-prepared rehabilitation plans;

8.
Welcomes the Interim Government's promise of rehabilitation of the unjustly evicted slum dwellers in Dhaka city; notes with concern, however, that tens of thousands of evicted rural and urban poor have still not received compensation or been reinstated and urges the Government to honour its promises;

9.
Notes that the present Interim Government has to struggle with the legacy of stalemate which arose due to the failure of the country’s key political formations, BNP and Awami League, to agree on conditions for the holding of elections in January 2007; urges the Government, nonetheless, to reconsider its present roadmap for elections and to speed up its preparations;

10.
Calls on the Council and the Commission to express serious concern over the continuing emergency rule in their contacts with the Bangladeshi authorities;

11.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to Council, the Commission, the SAARC Member states and the Bangladeshi Government.